THE FCE BLOG by Claudia Ceraso

FCE Oral Interview & ELT Pics

2011-10-29T16:53:00.002-03:00

For part 2 of the FCE oral interview, it is necessary to practise comparing and contrasting photographs. If you have taken a look at the past paper examination books, you have probably discovered that the photos chosen are not always that telling of exact details of place and what the people in them are up to. My own students usually complain they do not know what else to say about them.

I usually point my students to Flickr for finding striking photos that will ignite their imaginations. I use some of my own photos in class too, but I try to encourage them to surf and find new images.

What to bear in mind when choosing photos:

-You aim at stretching yourselves to speak about a variety of topics.

-You can follow tags to find similar images to pair.

The idea is to get you to be fluent about any topic, not just your favourite ones. You should try to relate to the photos as well as guess and predict what's going on. This exam task is, in my opinion, a step before creating a story.

Think of the story setting or conflict and you get the picture!

The is a drawback. It is hard to find a pair of closely related photos to compare and contrast. Doing it on your own is time consuming.

How to solve this?

I've found this initiative that Sandy Millin explains in her blog. Several EFL teachers have been collecting photos for classroom use and organized them in sets according to topics. These are over 2,000 photos from all round the world and they cover the vocabulary range you need.

Ceri Jones has an idea about annotating the photos on an interactive whiteboard to enlarge your vocabulary. That gets interesting. But why not do it in Flickr? Students could choose themselves whether to click on further vocabulary or ideas for their description on a need-to-know basis.

See this example:

If you go to the Flickr link of the image above and hover the mouse over the photo, you'll get surprised with Cogdog's suggestions.

I think it's great that teachers can share these photo prompts online, but it would be wonderful to see students creating notes on them and sharing the learning!

Storytelling

2011-09-13T19:24:00.002-03:00

Did you know?

Many of the students sitting for the FCE exam are afraid of writing stories. You know that in your part 2 of the Writing Paper you get a choice of rubrics to write about. Stories are, in my opinion, the freest and most creative opportunity the exam gives. We need to unlearn so much guided or repeated practice using typical starters and endings in letters. We need to go out of our comfort zone. To tell a story, we are always putting a lot of ourselves out there. And that's scary, yeah.

How to start? I do not have enough imagination...

Excuses.

Think of this:

"The scariest moment is always just before you start [writing]. After that, things can only get better." – Stephen King

Inspiration 911

Here is the site where I found Stephen's quote. It's an emergency line for those in need of getting ahead in their writing, but suffering from writer's block. Do you need a setting for your story? A verb? Do you need to kill a character?

http://www.webook.com/911writersblock

Now, would you let yourself be inspired and write a story? Take a look at these beautiful photographs. She's Dominoe.

My last year students did beautifully. Today we are writing again. You can read their versions in our class wiki. The wiki is not worldwide open, but you can post your version of the story in the comments here, if you like.

Stories help us getting connected. Connected to ourselves, to othe reader and the author as well! Alan, the author and owner of the real Dominoe, read the class production and wrote this post in return.

Here you can and hear Alan telling his original story.

What I enjoy about re-writing Dominoe is how a dog can wake up our imagination, how we can all become a new owner that breathes another life to it. So here are our frisbees to Dominoe. Hope you enjoy them and join our storytelling.

FCE Listening Practice through Dictation

2011-07-31T23:54:00.000-03:00

The word dictation probably brings to mind images of old, dull teaching practices. However, dictation has long been proven a learning device for foreign language students.

To mention but a few benefits, dictation can:

-help you obtain a list of words you usually misspell

-give you practice in note taking (FCE Listening Paper, part 2)

-foster thinking in the new language. Every learner's dream, isn't it?

Now, none of these benefits will happen unless you are motivated to practice dictation. If you choose how to practice it and try to vary the exercises, you'll focus more on its benefits rather than getting bored in a few minutes.

Here is a choice of websites to browse.

This site gives you three options of practice: jotting down the first letter of a word only, the whole word or a fill in the blanks with a bit of context to help you.

http://www.listen-and-write.com/
Here you will find dictations with real life English videos. British accent throughout.

Perhaps you'd like to try dictations from texts first. Then, the graded dictations at
http://www.fonetiks.org/dictations/ can be the place to start.

For a quick practice at the word level only, try
http://www.learnenglish.de/dictationpage.htm

How can this practice help me develop listening skills?

Many students complain that listening is one of the most difficult parts of the test. Indeed, English has an isochronous rhythm that languages like Spanish do not share. Dictation can help you at the level of the sentence, the words, the division of a chunk of speech into sensible units.

For the FCE level, however, all of that is taken for granted. You will be asked to make assumptions, establish connections and not simply recognizing sounds and words. So, if listening is your stumbling block, why not get some dictation practice to help you break such a big task into manageable portions?

Image source:

Verifying Dictation by mpujals

Punctuation

2011-06-30T23:38:00.001-03:00

Punctuation matters. Period.

Is that all?

Well, you may say:

Don't stop.

Don't, stop.

There's a difference, right? When I read, I don't like wondering what you meant. I want you to spell it out to me.

Writing is about making it easy and enjoyable for the reader. I usually tell my students that when they plan a paragraph, they are signalling a road for the reader to have a pleasant journey.

Extending this journey metaphor...

"Think of punctuation and mechanics in terms of driving your car. Punctuation and mechanics provide direction and signal the information to which you need to pay attention. Without punctuation and mechanics, phrases and sentences would run into each other and would be unclear, and your writing would go virtually nowhere. The purpose of punctuation and mechanics is to make your meaning clear by telling the reader when to pause, when to stop, when to take notice, etc" (I found it here.)

The power of punctuation is better explained by examples. Then you need some general rules. Above all, you need exercises!

The Purdue University website has a good menu to cover the punctuation you need to know.

If you find that too much, you may wish to do a quick quiz instead.

In the middle of your writing, you may need to consult a guide about specific punctuation marks. This one is quite comprehensive. This one is faster and has exercises.

A quick cheat-sheet to have near you while you write could be this Oxford site.

Last, but not least...

Beware the use of apostrophes and unnecessary quotation marks!

Too much? OK.

Period.

Image source:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/maubrowncow/2956760927/

FCE Set Texts 2011

2011-05-05T14:42:00.002-03:00

The Cambridge set texts for the 2010 and 2011 FCE exam are:

Wilkie Collins: The Woman in White (Black Cat or any edition)

Michael Chrichton: Jurassic Park (Macmillan or any edition)

Both recommended texts are graded readers. You may read one or both. These books are not discussed in the oral exam at all. They are the basis to answer a choice of optional writing tasks in Part 2 of the Writing Paper.

The Woman in White
Fiona Joseph has a great ten-minute podcast to introduce you to the book The Woman in White. Her tips are spot on. You should be very well prepared to choose one of the set text writing options, which can be an essay, an article or a letter.

Summary

Download the book. Or read it online.

Jurassic Park

This book is still copyrighted and unavailable online. You can find chapter summaries and notes here or here.

Summary

The range of set books recommended by Cambridge for the FCE exam has been full of classic authors. Most of the books are read in their unabridged editon. If you are one of those students who loves reading and needs advice with titles to quench your reading thirst, here is a good reading list created by OM. They also provide free downloads with information about the authors as well as some of their most famous books.

One final thought...

Apart from the recommended abridged readers, I would advise you to include some original work in your personal reading list. But most importantly, choose books you like! If you find a novel or story never ending, perhaps it's time to go and discover other titles that confirm reading can be a great pleasure.

Related posts

Preparing for the Set Book option

FCE Reader List

Background reading texts

Text X-ray

2011-04-16T16:24:00.002-03:00

Essay Reading and Writing

Reading comprehension is quite a challenge for some students. First of all, it is hard to distance yourself from your own culture and the possible interpretations that can force into a foreign text. It can be learnt, though.That's something that takes a lot of reading in original texts or dialogues.

Next, we need to recognize the anatomy of a text. You need to learn to develop an X-ray view of a it. That is to say, learn to see the logical nodes, the progression of ideas, the links. Forget about the details or the specific content. I'm talking about learning how it is that a text flows naturally while making sense.

So the idea is to learn to identify this with the aim of improving our capacity to read and eventually write a sequence of organized paragraphs. This link from Victoria University of Wellington will help you to do just that.

http://www.victoria.ac.nz/llc/academic-writing/

What you will learn:

-Identifying topic sentences

-Rearranging sentences to form a paragraph

-Incorporating sources

-Types of paragraphs: introductory, body, and concluding paragraphs.

This online 'course' might take about two hours of your time to complete. It's simple basic knowledge of how to go about an essay or any article paragraph. This is a recognition exercise before you try your hand at writing. At FCE and BEC Vantage level, I'd say this knowledge is sort of taken for granted.

Make sure you get the basics! Improving reading and writing go hand in hand.

Hat tip to Carl Dowse for sharing the Academic Writing link in his Business English wiki.

Image source:

Sharp by Claudia Ceraso on Flickr

Related post:

Paper 2 Articles

Spelling (Yeah, it's important)

2011-03-31T11:48:00.002-03:00

Students are sometimes surprised to learn spelling mistakes count when you are an advanced student of English. They prefer to focus on more difficult structures as if they were the only important things. Spelling is a detail, right? Well, this is what studying for standard exams can do to your priorities. Remember it's not the exam, but your English what counts!

Let me put it this way:

If you write with fairly good structures and vocabulary, what does bad spelling say about you in that context? Probably carelessness. There are so many tools that will help you identify poor spelling with a red line underneath that not doing anything about it is plain lazy.

Now watch this (you may have received the sample text via email),

So, why does spelling matter?

Becuz badd spilleng is hrd two undstnd wen u reed it. Because when you write, you do so not just for yourself but for a reader. Good communication is not an intention, it is the real effect we make on another person. Little time to write or our haste to pass a message quickly are just excuses unless you are texting from a busy street. Bad spelling is communication noise.

OK. Let's get down to learning.

Google can be the first place you go to check if a word exists. We are assuming you already suspect you are mispelling it. Most of the times, we may be unaware of our mistakes, so you probably need a tool to help you with two things:

-identify the mistake

-suggestions for correcting it

You can try cutting and pasting your text here or here to get a report with suggestions. That's easy.

However, spell checking tools are not enough.

"I have a spelling checker.

It came with my PC.

It plane lee marks four my revue

Miss steaks aye can knot sea."

Homophones -words with the same pronunciation, but different spelling and meaning- escape the scrutininzing eyes of the tools. There are a lot! Check them out.

Mastering spelling takes time and patience. Somehow, you need to keep track of your frequently misspelled words. Boring, I know. Maybe it can be fun, too. I really like the way the people at SpellingCity.com help you to learn. You can create your own tests based on the words you have problems with. There's plenty to do in that site.

Do you make any of these frequent spelling mistakes (Hush, but native speakers also do!)?

Last, but not least. There are differences in spelling depending which side of the Atlantic Ocean you are at. With so many sources to read English, you are probably mixing British and American styles. Are you?

Happy spelling!

End of Another FCE Year

2010-11-18T23:29:00.003-03:00

2010

The end of the school year is approaching for my FCE and BEC Vantage courses. They will be sitting for their exams in a couple of weeks. For both, teachers and students alike, these are days with lots of work mixed with reflections and a sense of farewell, which is never the part I like.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/yet-one-more-pic/5182845565/in/set-72157625282566045/by fceblog

While my FCE students were speaking in class today, I couldn't help noticing how much they've grown. Do they realise? They sound much more confident with the language in spite of the inevitable errors here and there. They look calm and yet excited about the challenge ahead. I think that if they could access to a film about the exam date details, they'd ask to watch it! Only to perpetuate insecurity and exam nerves. But that is far from what I want them to focus on.

I needed them to stop thinking about exam dates, rooms and strict regulations. So I asked them if they would like to be part of my next year class. I said that with a years' experience of sweating towards improving their foreign language skills, I consider them experts who can provide valuable advice to my next year students. So, why not Skype them in sometime?

Most of them said yes immediately. Others were pondering whatever that Skype call could look like.

I expanded. As my new courses will share the inherited writing Corpus wiki, future students may like the way they write and wonder how well they did at the exam, what kind of tips they would be able to give, etc. In short, they could be either interviewed or consulted as mentors.

The look on their faces when they heard the idea is still on my mind.

Hey teachers who also read this blog,

Have you ever asked your students to teach with you next year?

Do. It's worth it.

I must say is I'm glad this course started with success and ends with a seed of a project.

I want to give a special thank you to all of my 2010 FCE and BEC Vantage students for their enthusiasm, patience and commitment to carry on. You've certainly been a pleasure to work with. Remember the door of the blog is open for you to carry on learning at your pace. If you feel so inclined, leave us a comment.

For some, I can add that I'll catch up with you all on Twitter or the Facebook page.

Grammar Exercises

2010-04-24T21:43:00.000-03:00

Sometimes I wonder what visitors expect to find in this blog for First Certificate. I imagine them googling and landing here in search of learning, tips and practice.

Just think. All of those students alone with a computer searching for exercises to improve their English. Just like you. Now, isn't it a pity we don't share our findings?

This morning I woke up with world domination plans and thought it would be fantastic to pull the results of those searches and share them.

Like it?

OK. Let's take over the world!

The action plan

1) Create a delicious account. See this post about online bookmarks with delicious.

2) Save all of the practice exercises you do online. We are also looking for songs to illustrate grammar points.

2) Share away. Be sure to use the tag tagtastic for all bookmarks to be included in this grammar exercises project.

There we have it. A world-powered grammar notebook with exercises and songs.

How ~~fan~~tagtastic!

Some help to get started

Where shall I start looking for exercises?

Here is a binder with some websites specialized in ESL or EFL exercises.

EFL Grammar Exercises

How do I find songs to help me learn grammar?

My students think of them all of the time in class. They make spontaneous associations while I teach grammar. If your memory is not so musical, you can try searching "example sentences" + lyrics + "your favourite band" in Google.

Thoughts? Questions? All welcome.

Related posts:

English Grammar

Our Two Facebook Spots

2010-03-09T17:42:00.003-03:00

To: All fcebloggers, my dear students, teachers and people who generally love learning.

From: Claudia- (also known as fceblog)

Subject: It's official. We have two Facebook spots!

Dear All,

This is not strictly new. In April 2009 I decided to open a couple of places in Facebook to keep in touch with FCE students. It surprises me to see people finding it on their own. I thought it was about time to announce it here as well.

The FCE Blog is extending its online presence.

Facebook group

Facebook page

Welcome everyone to the group! This is a new online adventure. It's about leaving digital footprints. It all started in March 2006 with this blog, then a Corpus wiki, now Facebook... We'll see how this develops.

I thought it would be a good idea to start by joining some of my former students, now FB friends, who have always been a source of inspiration. Thank you all for joining. For the new FCE generations, I guess it is better to have a meeting point which does not oblige us to befriend each other to have a conversation.

-Why Facebook? you ask.

-Why not?

OK. Several reasons.

1- Although Facebook was not created to support learning, I know there are many lurkers who like this blog, but do not actively choose to participate of a blogosphere. There is no need for them to do so. They are spending time connecting and networking on Facebook. Learning is a conversation, I would like to extend this conversation of autonomous learning to where you are already.

2. Privacy

Why befriend the teacher? Why befriend all of my new classmates when I hardly know them? Facebook groups allow us to stay connected, yet not sharing all of our online space visibility.

3. This is about you

This blog has been my own printing press.

The wiki, my own class

Facebook group is all about you.

4. International voices and collaboration

So I look forward to seeing your interests, hearing your voices. If we find a resonance, we'll stick together.

Hope it becomes the spot where an international project springs (with a little help of a teacher somewhere...).

I have always been pleasantly surprised by people wanting to connect in order to learn. I'm ready for more. What do you say?

All best,

Claudia

Twitter: fceblog

Exam Day: The CIS

2009-12-12T15:47:00.003-03:00

I've noticed that Cambridge past papers books bring sample answer sheets at the end. However, there is no sample copy of the CIS, which every candidate must complete before the start of most Cambridge Suite exams.

What is the CIS?

CIS stands for Candidate Information Sheet.

Is that a part of the exam?

No, it isn't. Actually, it is a survey about the exam candidates. Your answers in the CIS will not affect your marks.

What kind of questions does it include?

You'll be asked about the following:

age group and gender
reasons for taking the test
whether you are working or not
whether you have taken any international exam before

Turning over the page, there are two more questions:

-What's your country of origin?

-What is your mother tongue?

Do I have to write a lot?

You'll be given multiple choice options, so there is nothing you have to write. You simply choose as appropriate.

I do not have any copy of the CIS with me. This is all I remember after invigilating today. Have you taken the FCE recently?

Help me complete this post with your comments.

Thanks!

End of School Year 2009

2009-12-01T15:13:00.002-03:00

Dear Students,

Yesterday was our last BEC Vantage class. Today is our last FCE class. I always have mixed feelings about ending a course. We've shared learning and laughter, for which you'll certainly be missed. On the other hand, I am glad for your achievement. As you know, language schools are not obligatory in Argentina, so it makes a difference to see people choosing to stay in class, motivated in spite of being tired of compulsory school exams for some as well as office work for others.

I won't say something like: "Sadly the day has come for us to say goodbye..." because we are now connected in so many ways. I proposed a wiki and a blog, but some of you have surprised me with Facebook invites and even Twitter. You see, you've disrupted my online world this year. I welcome it.

Last week we had a wiki recorded conversation about self-assessment. Your responses are material for my reflection. I want to do better next time. First thoughts on some things you taught me this year:

-It is not easy at all to internalize the criteria for correction used by international exams. It is sometimes too abstract to picture in examples.

-When you write outside the exam rubrics, with freedom of number of words or wider choice of topic, you show your real voices. You can even make grammar mistakes a teacher would have thought you wouldn't make at this learning stage. I think these cannot go unseen or unheard in a language class.

-You like teacher's corrections. Even if there are many. Even if they make you tired of thinking.

-You like reading what other students have done in the past. You look for real models.

-You love investigating online. I've never seen so many hits to the online dictionary sites during class time.

Now not all learning comes from the things I've heard or seen from you. There has been a silence this year about past papers. Anxiety levels to practice strictly in exam conditions went down.I've noticed you are all more interested in specific questions you have. You seem to follow your own learning paths. This is not the case with online followers of this blog, who tend to ask for links to past papers and listening practice. I wonder if that is a difference between studying with a teacher or studying on your own. It makes me re-think my teacher role. What is a teacher there for anyway?

To end this letter/post... (snif, snif)

Thank you for participating so much. I am grateful for every anecdote you shared. Thank you for being so curious, alert and fun. It has been my pleasure to be your teacher.

Wishing you every success in exams and life,

Claudia

PS/ Do let me know how you did on your exams! I'll be looking forward to hearing from you.

To the online readers of this blog, please share your exam experience in the comments.

Pre-writing

2009-10-20T17:25:00.001-03:00

Last week I asked my students this:

If you were writers, what would you write about?

I got some puzzled faces for an answer. At least, I got them to wonder.

Perhaps the word writer has an aura of profession that a few gifted people can pursue. This post aims at demystifying writing and -perhaps- bring it to your door.

Today 20th October is the 1st edition of the National Day on Writing. Clicking around their tips for writers, I came across this guideline called Determining What to Write About (pdf).

The guide is short and worth reading through. Here are three samples.

1) I find this advice very useful for writing stories for the exam. Some students focus a lot on big events worth telling, which only lead them to writer's block or the impossibility of doing so in roughly 140 words.

"Think about 'small moments' of life to expand and explore rather than creating large, involved stories"

2) The other complaint I hear from students and teachers who correct compositions is the predictability of the ending. When the story is too fantastic, we know the cliché closing line: abrupt waking up from a nightmare. You needn't try to be that original anyway.

"[...] Most of the time authors decide what to write about from examining their personal lives and interests or by examining the work of other authors and making parts of existing material into something new and different."

Notice that it must be new and different. That is what leaves plagiarism out.

3) The number one obstacle when learning to write for an exam is probably losing the pleasure of writing. You have to find a way to get into your writing. It's a personal road.

My favourite quote from the guide is definitely this one:

"Choosing topics or experiences that you care about will develop a sense of 'you' which only you can create."

So before I end this post, let me share new options for reframing my original question...

I should think of asking you:

What reading topics are so interesting that they make you lose track of time?

What are you keen on? What would you like to know more about?

What is your passion?

If you could share a bit of the learning you've made reading something you love, what would that be?

For more inspiration on pre-writing:

Developing Ideas for Writing from the State University of New York.

Study Guides and Strategies for more than just a pre-writing stage.

The guide at Purdue University for writing at advanced levels.

New questions for you (because I am curious):

Writing on paper or at the keyboard? Do you know that there are electronic versions of the exam? OK. That's for another post.

Do you identify with the opinion of the blog picture author?

"Call it brainstorming, prewriting, or jotting, this is what I usually do before I start writing. I think a lot better and faster with a pencil and a notebook than I do at the keyboard. Sometimes it's specific thoughts, other times it's free ideas. A lot of times I take a conversational tone with myself while taking notes."

Image credit

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeoliveri/685358132/

Formal and Informal Language

2009-04-16T21:59:00.001-03:00

Formal and Informal Language

The point is this. You may write correctly and be out of place. We are not writing to pass a test (only). We write because we want to communicate; we want to get results or a reaction from the other person.

At this level, you need to understand the difference between:

correct language
appropriate language

In a nutshell, when you are correct, your sentences are well formed. You are making use of good grammar. When you are appropriate, your choice of words and expressions adjust to the effect you want to make on a given person in a specific situation.

Sounds complex?

For example, it is not the same to ask "where do you live?" at a job interview or at a bar when meeting friends.

Watch this (just 25 seconds).

See? It is very different.

The style, the register, can vary in a not-always linear scale going from very formal to colloquial.

What can be somewhat difficult is for a non-native speaker of a language to become sensitive to those differences in a variety of contexts. To get that 'feeling' of a language, some people say it is necessary to live in the country where English is spoken.

I'd say, not necessarily.

Here's why. To get that grasp on a language, you have to become perceptive to situational variables. It is not enough to say, "I've heard it. So it exists." It is vital to hear it in context.

So how do we learn this?, you ask.

Build context to what you hear. Learn "When to say it".

OK. But how?

Every time you see films, or travel, or read in English pay attention to the following:

Who is speaking? What is his relationship with the other person? (Friend? Boss?)
Where are they speaking? (At the office? At home?)
What is the purpose of the conversation? (To get a job? To invite to a party?)

You need to attach this information to the language you want to learn. It's crucial.

Now, please do not expect a clear line to divide everything. A letter of application is formal by definition. However, if you want to get a job as a DJ, you would not be so formal as to get a scholarship from a university. There are degrees. Nothing is final in a language. But there are patterns you can -with time- distinguish.

It is this attitude to listening for context that will teach you more than trips. And practice of course! So let's go...

Some links:

Here are a couple of downloadable pdf worksheets (with answers) from the BBC.

These are a collection of handouts and exercises detailing characteristics of formal and informal writing.

The Corpus Wiki has a page to enlarge on all this.

http://www.corpus.wikispaces.com/register

Tandem Learning

2008-07-05T16:43:00.000-03:00

Finding your Learning Mates

I often hear the question...
Where can I practise my language skills with native speakers of English?

I can almost see you nod.

Using Skype, it is very easy to contact anyone to have a chat without being worried about your landphone bill. So first things first, get yourself a Skype account.

Avoid fatal mistakes.
Not everyone who speaks English likes being requested contact details in Skype just for the sake of practice. I'd say it is best to choose like-minded people first. People who are after the same objectives you have. Let's say, potential online friends.

Guess what...
People with like-minded ideas tend to get together somewhere in cyberspace. Key words to google here are
Tandem Language Learning

What is that?
Simply put,

I remember many years ago my then boss (and also my teacher of Greek) talking about something called tandem learning.The basic idea was that students learning each other's language could team up, taking turns to speak in their own language, then swop to the language they were learning. So, for example a Greek student would spend the first half of the lesson chatting or working with a German learning Greek and then in the second half of the lesson they would swop roles." From Teacher Dude's wiki.

Now you wonder if you can learn like this. Well, it is important to give your expectations a reality check.

It is not a formal class. So don't expect the other student to give you detailed grammar explanations of your mistakes. That's what teachers are for, right?

Why is tandem learning valuable?

Two things:

1)It is a unique chance to get first hand knowledge of the target culture. It is amazing to discover how different things can be in another country. It can help you see yourself for what you are: a global citizen.

Collaboration and sharing. That what it is. Both partners should benefit equally from the exchange. You'll have to negotiate!

2)It is an autonomous learning experience. You decide when, how long, what about. You are responsible for your own learning, your goals, materials and methods.

Some tips

Here's a great site to help you plan your lessons. You get the same topics and questions in 10 different languages, so you can easily organise the bilingual halves of the lesson.

It would be super if you decided to create a blog to record the experience. Take a look at this post from Carla Raguseo's and her Spanish and English Exchange.

Nice, don't you think?

OK. Now that you got it, let's find a learning mate!

Sites to get started

eTandem
Language Learning in Tandem
TandemCity
Friends Abroad
My Language Exchange
Language Exchanges
Polyglot
Palabea

Highly recommended
Livemocha

Kan Talk is a place to choose topics to talk about, then the people. Yet, tandem learning needn't be just a conversation project, it could also be about writing. Like this.

One last thing....
Remember to protect your privacy. If you do not do this with your teacher helping you, do give those sites a good look first.

Happy learning!

Image credits Tandem by laRuth http://www.flickr.com/photos/laruth/458677778/ Two tandems by miichan http://www.flickr.com/photos/miichan/2360658674/

Cambridge Results Online ... And then?

2008-02-01T12:06:00.000-02:00

So, how did it go?

As from 1st February you can consult your Cambridge exam results online. If you need guidance on how to access your scores check out this previous post.

You may be certain that at this point I am very curious about my own students' results. However, I am quite confident they have learnt things that I cannot really measure. They are not recorded in standard ways. And yet, they mean a lot to us.

But I do need to know and learn myself from your results. They will help me to evaluate part of our experience together and do better next time. So here is what I would like you to do. When you access your results, you will see a pdf page with the details of your performance in all areas evaluated. That is your student's profile page. You are the only person who can access it because it is password protected. Please save it to your computer and send it to me by email.

I am also opening a wiki page called Exam Results 2007. You know the wiki rules: make that page yours. Feel yourself at home. If you are not one of my students, leave a comment here and join our conversation.

I wonder... I imagine you've been anxiously waiting for this day to come and know how you did. What do these exam results mean to you? What is next?

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hunkdujour/373695263/

Thank You 2007 Students

2007-11-29T17:08:00.000-03:00

End of 2007 Academic Year

Dear Students,

In an hour we'll meet again one last time. I wanted to write this post to thank you for sharing this learning experience with me. I also remember the people who had to drop the course. You certainly have taught me much more than you are aware of.

I would love to share some good news. Our last post on del.icio.us got a ~~fan~~tagtastic response. I want to thank this user for sending us excellent resources that I will use in future posts. So far the account is empty and it seems to have been opened just to share those links!

Our open classroom spirit is felt by teachers also. I want to thank Carla Arena and Alison for their collaboration spirit and ideas. I think you'll see our Collaborative Projects section of the wiki grow in 2008.

What will happen to our wiki?
I hope it grows and grows.Our wiki is a heritage project. By which I mean, that future students will
a) Benefit from your extensive production (so far over 160 pages). Your samples will be their study material. As such, they are as valid as the coursebooks you have used.

b) Edit your work. Our Collaborative Edition section is a work in progress that future students can improve, mix, remix, add...

However, this is not just for the benefit of others. Although your portfolio samples will be protected from further edit, discussion forums remain open. Forever.

By subscribing to your own pages, you will learn what students-to-come think of your work. You might as well learn over their shoulders by reading the conversations your work inspires. You see, same time and same place are no longer requirements to learn together. When we are online, we are in a third place.

I am happy you now know how to tag, RSS and open wikis. I hope you continue playing with Netbives and Flickr. Remember to think before you post.

I know, I know. This is the time for another kind of advise. For the killer exam tips and nervousness management! I hope that by now, you feel that, although a challenge, this exam is doable and you are well equipped to succeed. Now we know that what we need is not a collection of tricks, but some knowledge, a set of tools and sensible use of them. I hope that more expert voices, such as my last year students, drop their comments here and we all learn from them as well.

Oops! Time is up and I must cease.

Much love and success to all my students -past and present.

Claudia

Bookmarks are Tagtastic!

2007-11-03T16:07:00.000-03:00

How can our bookmarks bring us together?
We all love surfing the net and discovering great sites. Then we bookmark in our browsers to find them again, we want to share with friends via e-mail (so last season!) and then... chaos. You like bookmarking so much the collection of links is unmanageable. Or worse, some computer crash makes you lose months of work at collecting! Ouch.

Wouldn't it be great if we had access to the bookmarks of people round the world studying the same you are trying to learn? Wouldn't you like to contact people who have saved the same sites you did? Like-minded people around make a difference.

Ok. Let's do it!
The trick is this. Forget about the Internet as a source of information. The Internet is folks trying to learn just like you. When we decide to share, we can create a meeting, a folksonomy. We can find each other.

Two key words here:
a) Del.icio.us -the tool. You'll need an account.
http://del.icio.us/
b) Tagging -the action. You'll associate key words to your favourite sites. What they are about and why they are important to you. Rule for good tagging: The more, the merrier!

In this 3-minute video you will see where, why and how to tag.

Video source

Del.icio.us for us is ~~fan~~tagtastic!

I've always loved bookmarking. I think it was my first natural step towards online learning. Apart from my fceblog account to connect with teachers, I have created an account for my class. You can find it here:
http://del.icio.us/tagtastic

My students are creating their accounts and joining our network. If you are a student, save the FCE Blog in your bookmarks, write a message in the description box and we'll find you.

Would you like to see what we are doing?
Here is our wiki page on bookmarks.

So let's tag away!

Special thanks to ijohnpederson for helping me shape this idea.

Vocabulary Feeds

2007-10-28T14:53:00.000-03:00

Your Thoughts are Hungry for Words
Vocabulary is food for thought. If your mind is well fed, then you will be able to frame your ideas in speaking and writing better. There is probably nothing as frustrating as to have a gap in your vocabulary. Those moments when you want to explain something in a foreign language and the words simply do not come. To enjoy becoming a speaker of a second language, we need to eat words well.

It is important to vary the ways in which you try to incorporate new words. There is no best method to learn. Yet, if learning can be action, the practice becomes more effective and meaningful. Learning words is not about memorising. Not even remembering. Do you remember how you learnt every word you know? When you learn, you simply transform yourself.

Learning is a cycle. Learning vocabulary will require consulting dictionaries, exploring new contexts for a word in your readings on the Internet and finding examples. A bit of decontextualised -some mechanical or repetitive- practice may also help. One day you may surprise yourself using richer words in your writing. That's when a learning cycle ends giving way for another one to begin.

Did you know your learning can also transform others?

Learn Free vocabulary & Give Free Rice
Learning is a powerful thing. The people involved in this initiative launched on the 7th October 2007 understand it well. Their mission is to help provide food for people in need while you learn.

"For each word you get right, we donate 10 grains of rice through the United Nations to help end world hunger."
http://www.freerice.com

Click there and you will find an ongoing multiple choice test. It is challenging for both: advanced students and native speakers. What is so interesting about this site is that it shows an example of learning both ways. You learn by choosing and the machine learns with your clicks too:

FreeRice automatically adjusts to your level of vocabulary. It starts by giving you words at different levels of difficulty and then, based on how you do, assigns you an approximate starting level. You then determine a more exact level for yourself as you play. When you get a word wrong, you go to an easier level. When you get three words in a row right, you go to a harder level. This one-to-three ratio is best for keeping you at the “outer fringe” of your vocabulary, where learning can take place.

Click here for details on how playing the vocabulary game helps you and others.

So let's play and feed ourselves!

Attribution
Thanks to Lisa Parisi for the link.
Image: DSC_5596 - Vocabulary by theglauber
http://www.flickr.com/photos/theglauber/416091822/

Copyright notice
Unless otherwise marked, the posts at The FCE Blog are copyright protected. You may not reproduce entire posts without written permission from the author. As the United Nations WFP is asking to spread the word, this post is copyright free. So if you do not have time to blog, with this footnote I am allowing you to cut & paste portions as needed.

Please attribute:
via The FCE Blog. Reproduced with permission.

If you use the hyperlink of this post (http://fceblog..blogspot.com/2007/10/vocabulary-feeds.html), your blog spreading the word will be listed here so that we can read you and comment!
View blog reactions

Thank you!

European Day of Languages (EDL)

2007-09-26T10:15:00.000-03:00

What Languages Mean to People

This two-minute video was shot in the streets of London on the 26 of September 2006. It is a survey, but the street is rather noisy so I transcribe the questions on the video.

Do you know today is the European Day of Languages?

Do you think it is important to speak other languages?

Is English the most important language to know?

Would you like to speak other languages?

What percentage of the population in the world speaks native English?

What will you use English for?

Hey! What would your answers be?

On a side note-
Sometimes, we dream the whole world could speak the same language. How simple things would be, right?
OK. Suppose your wish is granted. But that unique universal language is neither English nor your mother tongue.
Now tell me:
How much do you think the world would lose for not understanding you?

Now you know what you are missing.

Related Post
Check our previous post celebrating the EDL:
701 Reasons to Study a Foreign Language

Linktribution
My side note reflection is one I heard on a fantastic presentation called Cultures at the far edge of the world, by the explorer Wave Davis. I got there via an EFL teacher, David Deubelbeiss.
Accessibility
Find the interview video at YouTube.

Short Stories

2007-08-22T14:24:00.000-03:00

Reading Short Stories

Where's the muse? The best way to get inspiration to write is to read stories. What kind of stories do you like? Children's, crime, fiction, horror, humour, non-fiction, romance, sci-fi? Here is a great site with all these genres -some of the stories are just two pages long!

http://www.short-stories.co.uk

What makes this site so interesting? -you ask.
It can turn your reading into something social. Here you can recommend stories; you can also see if other readers have rated them or commented on. You can take part in the community of readers while you practise your English in a real context.

The site is neatly organised. You can browse the library by category or search by title, author or keyword. Stories can be read online, printed or downloaded for reading offline or on handheld devices. You can also keep track of the stories you have read or mark them for later.

Tip for FCE candidates who wonder...
Is it possible to write a short story in 180 words?
Click on Fiction, for example, and go to "list by lenght". You will find examples of one-page short stories! Short indeed.

If you like an author, you can easily access more stories by them. Now what blows my mind away with excitement is that you may get in touch with some authors. Haven't you ever dreamt of talking with your favourite author?

................................

Important Note:
All stories include an Age Rating. PG stands for “parental guidance”. It means that if you are under 18, your parents should know what you are reading.

Related Posts
What shall I read?

Paper 2 – Short Story

Word Count

2007-07-16T01:38:00.000-03:00

Analising your text- Word Count

In your FCE exam, all written answers must be between 120 and 180 words. When writing under exam pressure, it is important to count words and not to lose time.

How do you count words?
Here's the trick: train your eye.

On paper
By the time you sit for an exam you should know how many words in your handwriting fit a line.

If you must count, do not count word by word. Select two or three lines of your text; count the words on those lines. Obtain the average and then multiply by the total number of lines. Much faster.

On the computer
When you practise for the class, you may use your word processor to do the word count. (Tools>Count Words). There is also a toolbar in some versions of Word that will update the count when you make alterations.

Online!
My students are writing on a wiki which does not include a word counter. It is quite uncomfortable to open Word just to cut and paste your sample and check on the total number.
Here are a couple of websites with word counting tools

http://www.wordcounttool.com/

http://www.javascriptkit.com/script/script2/countwords.shtml

How many words is too much?
Let's say that 10% more than the total mentioned in the exam rubrics is as far as you can go. If you have written a remarkable piece, a few extra words will not affect your mark.

Let's count!

Related Link
Time Yourself!

Pronunciation - Vowel Sounds

2007-06-24T22:46:00.000-03:00

Pronunciation - Vowel Sounds

To learn a sound, you have to make it yours -until it is not foreign anymore.

How?
Ah, that takes time. And work. The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary!

How about some quick revision of pronunciation?
Here are a couple of short videos (about 2 minutes each) which focus on vowel sounds.

The videos go a little fast at times. Have the mouse ready to pause and make a mental record of each sound.

Long Vowel Sounds

Short Vowel Sounds

Note: Pronunciation of R.
British English is R-less (so pretend the R is not there!). The voice on the video has an American accent.

Consistency
To sit for the FCE exam (and for lifelong learning as well), you need not use British English exclusively. Whichever accent you choose to speak, it is important to be consistent when you talk and write.

Practice makes perfect!
The idea is to hear the sounds in your mind before you attempt to imitate them. You need to have a memory of them to compare and contrast what you hear -to achieve recognition. That will be your database to start modelling your own sounds.

Tip
This video can be useful to spot which sounds you still need to practise.

And if you need sound practice, you are reading the right blog.

Related Posts
Pronunciation Starter Pack
For details on each sound of the system with contrastive pairs.

Sounds and Spelling
If you need more detailed explanation to produce a sound, a look at this post will take you to a site with tutorials on how to articulate.

Thank you Steve Mac for sharing these videos! I wonder how you would describe your own accent.

The CORPUS Wiki

2007-05-26T05:42:00.000-03:00

The Students' English Corpus

The FCE Blog expands into a wikispace to enable new learning experiences.

In previous posts we have featured some of my student's best sample answers to illustrate parts of the exam.

I thought it would be a good idea to provide a collection of sample answers by sharing everything my students are doing in class.

Our learning formula derives from Einstein's
E = mc²
English is energy which requires a mass of practice at the speed of creativity.

What is this wiki about?
In a nutshell, lots of practice!

For a more detailed intro, find the section of your interest (whether you are a student or a teacher) directly from our wiki: About this Project.

Why would you be interested in reading it?
Because we will be building a guide, a corpus, of authentic Sample Answers. Mind you, not just examples of finished letters and compositions. Oh no! We believe writing is a process. We want to share the process of writing, our debates and the learning we have been gaining all along.

Wikis are learning gardens
A wiki is a kind of web page that allows for multiple users to upload and edit pages. Although it is similar to a blog, there are some differences.

Every wiki page has a Discussion tab and a History tab. That is precisely where the learning process is registered.

Huh? I do not get it...
Let me explain with an example.
Here is a sample letter of application written by Lucas.

Lucas wrote his sample answer following FCE rubrics for the task.
A group of five peer reviewers (i.e. classmates) produced a collaborative report on his work in class and posted it to the Discussion.
Lucas edited his first draft several times taking into account the report and the mistakes I had underlined.

If you click on the History tab, you will be able to choose two versions to compare. Here is Lucas first draft compared to the final version. The contrasting colours highlight the deleted mistakes (in red) and the corrections inserted (in green).

It might sound complex at first, but believe me working in a wiki is easy and fast. This Corpus wiki is a garden full of flowers. I think it will be difficult for us to pick out the nominees for the Awards!

Sample Answers Awards
The best samples produced will be published in The FCE Blog either as featured examples or as part of the Sample Answers Awards. Winners will be chosen by the whole FCE class, who will scrutinize their own work under Cambridge assessment rubrics. Tough job.

Can I take part in this?
Yes, you can. Your sample composition could be published in the wiki or the fceblog. Email me to ask for the participation rules.
fceblog (AT) gmail.com

The Corpus Wiki Editors
The edition of the wiki pages is only for wiki members -namely, my students. Of course you can always leave us a comment at the fceblog and let us know what you think.

Hope you enjoy digging into our learning ground.

Claudia Ceraso
Blog Editor
Wiki Gardener

Image source
http://www.hetemeel.com/einsteinform.php
via Desde Murcia

The FCE Blog: A Tutor Blog

2007-05-14T22:44:00.000-03:00

What is this blog anyway?
Am I teaching here? Is this a teachers' blog? I am certainly not giving any homework. That is for sure. If you ask me, I would just say this is a blog for students -which teachers may like of course. Some of them have commented they have found inspiration here.

I believe blogs are meant to foster reflection and create conversations; therefore, it is the target reader that defines them. Yet, the best teachers are lifelong learners who can always remain learners. So, to be more precise, this blog is from a learner to learners. Wherever you are.

Newsletter
We are pleased to announce to our readers that The FCE Blog has been included as the Tutor blog example in the book How to Teach English with Technology. The book is part of the 'How to...' series directed by Jeremy Harmer and was published by Longman Pearson on 30 April 2007.

Teachers who read the book will probably need concrete examples of what blogs can do in ELT. You will read there about Carla and Dennis with their fantastic International Exchange blog.

This is how we are introduced:

'A blog set up and maintained by a teacher is known as a tutor blog. The teacher may decide to allow their learners to write comments in the blog. The one on page 89 (top) is an example of a tutor blog set up by a teacher in Argentina for her Cambridge First Certificate Examination preparation class. In the blog she provides study tips, reviews class work and provides extra links on specific topics such as pronunciation.'

From: Chapter 7 'Blogs, Wikis and Podcasts' page 87.

A Reflection
I started this blog on my own in March 2006. I gradually got to know I am part of a lively and ever growing community of ELT bloggers. Here are some of my teachers.

The FCE Blog...A tutor blog...

Hmmm. What do you learners think?

........................................
I would like to thank the Authors Gavin Dudeney and Nicky Hockly for their positive revision of our work. A special thanks to Katy Wright, Pearson Publisher, for her kindness in our email exchanges.

Longman Pearson has offered to make a donation to a charity of my choice in acknowledgment of the permission to reproduce a screenshot of the fceblog. The money donated will benefit the intensive care unit at Hospital de Rehabilitación Respiratoria 'María Ferrer' in Buenos Aires. For all they have done for Daniel -to whom this blog is dedicated.

.

2001: A Space Odyssey

2007-04-20T16:40:00.000-03:00

Stanley Kubrick’s Space Odyssey(1968)

Announced in our previous post on FCE set books, this post is entirely dedicated to 2001: A Space Odyssey. It is a mixture of suggestions about sites that can help you interpret the book and a bit of memorabilia. This film directed by Stanley Kubrick has become an icon or even a cult movie.

The Film

Have you seen it? Why, then. Watch it!

Full version:
http://www.spiteyourface.com/one/film.html

Or a 2 minute and 01 second version:

-Not in the mood now for stopping reading to watch?
-I see.
The following links are published under my SPOILER WARNING! (What’s this?)

You probably landed on this post looking for inspiration for a movie review or composition. Basics to prepare your set book writing task. Try these:

Film Summary Notes and analysis

Check here for interpretations and allegorical meanings of the film.
.......................................

Now, here is something not to be missed (it’s much shorter than the film)

It is an interpretation of Kubrick’s film. There are different language options in the site, however, I trust you will practice your English! (Make sure you have Flash 6 installed in your computer.) Turn off the lights, turn on your loudspeakers and press the F11 key before you click.

Ready? Enjoy this fantastic animation.

http://www.kubrick2001.com/

20 minutes later...

Wow. Isn’t it just superb?

Comments are welcome.

......................................

Film Reviews

What’s the point in reading reviews? Film reviews are flooded with vocabulary. Some words are only to be learnt for recognition –you might sound rather pompous if you say those long words. Yet, it can give you hints as to words different from "very" or "good" or "excellent" and the most feared "nice" to jazz up your writings.

Some examples:

BBC site
Time Out magazine(Watch out fans! This review is not completely positive)
The film or the book?
Here is a blogger reviewing the film

Memorabilia

Now a bit for the funs. Film lovers will enjoy the pics, the original cinema program
or The Zero Gravity Toilet: Instructions for passengers.

Among the list of cultural references in Wikipedia, I found this episode of The Simpsons, Deep Spacer Homer, dedicated to the film.

Musical Echoes

David Bowie’s song Space Oddity was written a year after the film. You can find the lyrics here. Three years after the film, Pink Floyd released Echoes.

Here you'll find about the backstage and anecdotes. Kubrick was indeed careful about the accent of the film characters (from the Internet Movie Database).

These links listed under Memorabilia are sites I may use in my own lessons. Haven’t thought out exactly how I am going to use them. I know there are inspired teachers hovering this blog, so if you come up with ideas for a lesson plan, leave us a comment or a link to your own blog. Any suggestions will be welcome with a broad smile.

My FCE Class 2007

2007-03-08T17:37:00.000-03:00

Dear Students,

Today is my first class with you. I am writing and posting this before I actually meet you. It is always a bit of an adventure to start a new course. So much to share and learn! I have been discovering new things every day since I started blogging. I am sure this year’s course will be an inspiring experience for you and me.

Next 18 March I will have been blogging for a year. I know most of you know what a blog is, but perhaps I am the first teacher who invites you to share a blog as part of a course. My 2006 FCE class had a chance to see it grow post by post, now I guess it might seem a bit overwhelming to the newcomer.

The Internet has too much information. Probably so does this weblog. I started writing this with some objectives in mind, which you may read on our very first post. As much as they still apply to my intentions today, I must confess I also keep writing posts because I learn so much in the process.

What is this blog? Well, I like to think that this blog is a window to the world. An extension of our classroom walls –should I say there are no more walls? Perhaps. We are regularly visited from the entire globe by teachers and students who also want a Cambridge certificate. That's our common objective. The English language is our common passion. Objectives mixed with passion underpin this blog all over.

When I find great teachers sharing their work online, I link to them. So you do not learn just from me. Then we also publish and share part of our class production so we can contribute to the community of students elsewhere looking for guidance. Another teacher or student drops by the fceblog, leaves us a comment or they start talking in their blogs about us. That’s when all of this gets really exciting!

This blog is not homework, but an invitation. There is no proper way of reading this. See the menu or help yourselves. Read it all or just a bit every other day. Either way is equally perfect. You decide. This blog is all about learning, developing autonomy to study and reflecting all along.

Exams and certificates are papers. Communication with the world is magic. Indeed to be writing here today and know all of you are out there reading... It’s magic!

Looking forward to meeting you on and offline,

Claudia

Buenos Aires, Argentina

English Forums

2007-03-04T16:19:00.000-03:00

Now, seriously

I find forums can be useful for answering specific questions. Or if you think you can help others. They are not a classroom or a place to hold long conversations. I think people spoil forums when they try to use the tool for a purpose it was never meant.

In forums, best comments are short and to the point. For talking longer than that, consider opening your own blog and run the show yourself.

Above all, do not get angry in a forum. If a moderator is not emerging to do their job of guaranteeing you have a nice experience sharing, please deprive them of the pleasure of your presence and contribution. If your ego got hurt, all I can say is "stiff upper lip".

Or read this and laugh out loud.

How many forum members does it take to change a lightbulb?

Forums tend to breed special characters, though. Perhaps this happens when people are more focused on themselves, creating a group to belong to -those things.

This funny example of how far a thread in a forum can go is worth a read. Hilarious, but I am sure you can spot these characters in any forum independently of the topic in question. If you find yourself in one of these roles, think twice before you post or you are running the risk of being somewhat pathetic.
http://www.adelaider.com/?thread=6605

Forums for Students

Using English.com forums includes a section called "Ask a Teacher", usually the most crowded section. It also offers discussions on idioms, phrasal verbs, phonetics. Worth a look.

Flo-joe Discussion Forums
If you are preparing for a Cambridge certificate, probably no other forum in the entire English speaking cyberspace will suit you best. Divided into main sections such as Writing, Vocabulary, Grammar and your experiences of FCE, CAE or CPE, these forums are lively, always active and for the most part well moderated. I am a visitor myself -you'll find me there for sure. I always enjoy the straightforward way students have to post their questions and help each other out. Highly recommended.

Dave's ESL Cafe
This forum is a classic. The threads on exams deal mainly with TOEFL, TOEIC and GRE, but you can find topics such as sports, food, pets and learning English of course.

Open Forums
There are two interesting new forums, but not exclusive for students.
Take this as a disclaimer.

Chinswing
This is a fairly new voice forum. You may write key words to help viewers to decide if they want to listen to you, but your message is in your voice. Nifty. Teachers of English have been discussing there how this can be used to help. Topics? You may find anything. Watch out.

ConvinceMe.net
This is a forum that allows you to debate in three different ways: openly debate, battle head-to-head and king of the hill (see the site for a detail on these). What is interesting is that even if you do not have something all that special to say, you may cast your vote on one side of the discussion or other.

Let me repeat it, this site may have all kind of content, beware what you click. I am including it here because it is possible to find real people who are not practising English. They are using real language and discussing the whole spectrum of possible topics.

This post is just a sample. The best of the best. There are a lot more! UK Student Life
for those who are travelling to the UK, Phrasebase.com, for finding people to practise any language you can think of.

One that I have always found intriguing is this Angielski forum. If only I spoke Polski! And I know they read the fceblog.

If you know of a good forum or want to share how they help you with your English, leave us a comment.

Source credit: Cartoon by Dave Walker

Related Post: Privacy Policy and Security
(Please read the special note on forums)

What shall I read?

2007-02-08T19:56:00.000-03:00

A Book is a Beautiful Thing

I am usually asked this question: What do you recommend reading to learn English at my level? As if there existed the answer to such a question! (or I were the person to answer it). Whitman's words in the great poem Song of Myself come to my rescue:

"You must find out for yourself"

So as a teacher, I will confine myself to help you find out for yourselves.

Here is a site I think you will like:

Library Thing

http://www.librarything.com/

Basically, it is a spot for people to list the books on their shelves at home and then discuss them with like-minded readers.

My site rating 5/5:

Well organised
intuitive interface
no private info required
up to 200 books listed for free
and best of all: no need to download anything!

This is what I a call a very good website.

How can that site help me with my exam preparation?

I knew you would ask that. Well, for starters...

You can find your set texts
Read what real people are saying about them
Leave your own comment and practice your English in a real –should I say virtual- situation!

You might even find a pal there who, surprisingly enough, has read the same books you love. Nice thing, isn't it?

Then if you refine your search a bit, you may find opinions that sound natural and full of that vocabulary you need when you are asked to review a book for your set text question. You are not supposed to imitate a New York Times book critic in your exam composition. Nope.

We are trying to learn words people like you or me use when talking books. Perhaps you have noticed that most FCE course books teach you adjectives to describe people, places, ways of looking, ways of you-name-it, but what's missing? Words for those books you adore, other than 'great' or 'very good'.

Let’s try it out together

Here I’ve created an fceblog group for you (a kind of book talk forum). Want to join the discussion? If you can't figure out how to join through the site, leave us your user name to get an invitation. If you create one for your own classmates, leave us a message or a comment here to find you!
http://www.librarything.com/groups/fceblog

And where are the links to all exam set texts?
I told you, you must find out for yourselves...

Ok, ok. Here is just a sample in my own catalogue:
http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=claudia.ceraso

I chose those editions just because other people have saved them, so we are not alone there. Not that I mean to recommend them...(some are pretty expensive actually!).

On second thoughts, I do recommend reading any edition of Whitman’s Leaves of Grass. By far an awesome, flabberghasting book!

.

Exam Results

2007-01-26T20:09:00.000-03:00

How to Access your Cambridge ESOL Results Online

As announced in this February 2006 edition of Cambridge First magazine, it is now possible for students to know their exam results on the web:

“Candidates taking Main Suite (KET, PET, FCE, CAE and CPE) or BEC (Preliminary, Vantage and Higher) exams can now access their results as soon as they are released, using a secure web-based service.

With results available from midnight on the release date, candidates can immediately find out how they have done, wherever they are in the world. This means that candidates studying away from home, on holiday, or far from their exam centre no longer have to wait for results posted from the centre.”

It is important to note that many Cambridge ESOL authorised centres in the world have yet to register to gain access to this service. You should have received notice of this together with the release date with your exam citation.

Here is the URL to access your exam results. Please copy & paste in your browser. (See*Note)

http://www.cambridgeesol-results.org

Bear in mind that the whole world wants to know their results as soon as they are released, so the page is bound to be overcrowded. A little patience will do.

Once you access the site, you will have to register

Enter your ID number and secret number (given by your exam centre).

Next enter your e-mail address and password that you have to create.

Agree to the Terms of Use

Check the ‘submit' button

You will then go to the login screen

Enter your ID number again and the password you have created

Your result will be on the homepage

Click the Statement of Result button to see how you have done in each paper

If you want, you can print it to show your family while you wait for the official certificates to arrive.

Next essential steps...

You might as well jump for joy at the good news.

Text or email all of your friends and/or enemies

Come back to the fceblog and let the world know how you did!

(In case the emotion obliterates our URL from your mind, you can enter “fceblog” in Google).

*Note: The URL is not hyperlinked in accordance to the Terms of Use of the Results site which state the following under the section Links:

"3.2. You may not create any hypertext link to the Site (excepting adding a Candidate Results Service page to your browser's Favorites/Bookmark file)."

Accessibility: The site appears hyperlinked in the Cambridge First magazine cited above at the end of the article.

Picture credit: Jonny Baker under a Creative Commons license

FCE Blog Newsletter

2007-01-26T18:47:00.000-03:00

Feature Article

I just wanted to share with you a bit of the buzz, I mean, news related to this blog.

I have been interviewed by Karina Crespo, a teacher from Educ.ar, the Argentine government educational weblog.

I was asked to talk about some ideas behind this FCE Blog project:

How it was born
How this blog works with my FCE class and my students
How I view the impact of Web 2.0 tools on teaching and learning

I enjoyed meeting Karina for this e-mail interview. I would like to thank her very much for her encouraging comments and for publishing my words without a single change.

Here is the link to the interview in Spanish

For those interested in blog archeology/history or, let’s say, just curious about what I said, I am posting a translation into English in my teacher’s blog ELT Notes.

Five Things About Me

2007-01-25T20:16:00.000-03:00

Allow Me to Introduce Myself

There is a meme game that has been linking the blogosphere all round the world. Each blogger who accepts the invitation must reveal five things most people don’t know about them. Then they pass the ball over by tagging five other bloggers.

Now I re-read the About Me column on my blog sidebar. Definitely one the most formal introductions I’ve ever seen on a blog for students. Perhaps even out of place. I apologise. This game Teacher Dude has tagged me into is a great opportunity to break the ice.

I guess it can’t be too difficult to play. This blog has always been focused on guiding students with an FCE level of English and beyond –certainly little has been said about the teacher blogger.

Here it goes.

1. My first English class was a turning point in my life. At 12 I was fascinated about a bilingual reporter on TV who interviewed people in French. I started raving about learning French. There were no French teachers in my home town then, so my mother suggested English lessons instead. I went unwillingly. First class, the private teacher asked for my copybook, wrote the date, the verb to be, the main contractions and a list of vocabulary. Then she instructed I should memorise it for the next class. Oddly enough, I felt great the whole hour, noticing how much the teacher enjoyed her job. The moment I left the class I said to my surprised Mom: 'I want to be a teacher of English'. Never had a second thought about it. Little did I imagine then I would teach so differently now. But you see, it is all in the passion; not the method.

2. I have this uncommon ability: I am ambidextrous -I can write with both hands. Except for making a student or two laugh, I believe it is a totally useless ability. Instead, touch typing is a blessing -particularly when I must translate 2500 words at a sitting before a deadline.

3. I dislike chocolate. Intensely. Genetics doesn’t explain it. My whole family loves chocolate. It’s just a me-only thing.

4. One of my favourite novels is The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles (If only I could write like him!). In Jan 1997, my dream came true: I went to Lyme Regis to visit the novel and film setting. Walked alone on the Cobb, but Jeremy Irons never turned up. So odd. I went back to Broad St, got into the Fossil Shop and bought a beautiful Dactylioceras Commune, which is always next to me on my desk while I blog.

5. I admire the motivation and courage my students have to sit for exams. I confess I went straight into TEFL College without ever sitting for the FCE!

I think not even my own students knew all this. Come to think of it, they never asked.

Now my turn to tag…

Well, I have noticed the work of some Argentine teachers of English who also blog for their students. All I know about them is their passionate work, which only makes me want to know more about these people. So I’d like to tag Rita Zeinstejer , Claudia Bellusci and Alicia Rey.

Also Michael in Rome, because I can tell from his blog we are like-minded in many ways .

That makes four. Mmm, I should choose one more to play this meme well.

Two minutes later…

And last but not least, I’d love to tag one of those many silent viewers of the fceblog who have decided to save it on del.icio.us.

Consider yourself tagged!

.

Audio Books

2006-12-27T15:14:00.000-03:00

Let Someone Else Tell You Stories

Audio books are certainly a way of getting more FCE listening practice. Some of you will probably find that you "read" more with the aid of an iPod or iTunes.

As suggested by Teacher Dude in his comment, audio books can help you read a lot faster. Find his related posting in his blog with reading lists and his students comments on the use of audio books here and here.

Do I need any software to download audio books?
Yes, check out these sites:
Bitcomet
http://www.bitcomet.com/
LimeWire
http://www.limewire.com/english/content/home.shtml

Where can I get audio books?
There are sites offering them for free -or at least most of their content. Have a look at this list:
Librivox
http://librivox.org/librivox-catalogue
Classic Audio Books
http://www.freeclassicaudiobooks.com/
Audiobooks.org
http://www.audiobooks.org/
Audio books for free
http://www.audiobooksforfree.com/screen_main.asp
Free books on mp3
http://www.free-books.org/index.php
Literal Systems
http://literalsystems.org/abooks/index.php
Gutenberg
http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/categories/1

What about the accents I will hear?
This is something that will change from book to book. Notice that some are human narrated recordings and others are made using text to speech voices.

Need a recommendation to read? Well, this is precisely where your comments can help other readers, isn't it?

Enjoy your reading, I mean, listening!

Note: As usual with material you download from the internet, make sure you read and understand the license terms and respect author's copyright. Those terms may vary from site to site. Watch out!

Picture credit: Steve Crane under a Creative Commons license.

Related post:
Reading Interviews and Online Magazines (some with audio)

Set Texts 2007

2006-12-18T00:38:00.000-03:00

FCE Reader List

Every year Cambridge ESOL renews two books on the reading list for the Writing Paper –Part 2.

The Cambridge ESOL set books for 2007 are:

A.J. Cronin, The Citadel (Penguin Readers or any edition)

* Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Three Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Penguin Readers or any edition)

* George Orwell, 1984 (Penguin Readers or any edition)

Arthur C Clarke, 2001: A Space Odyssey (Penguin Readers or any edition)

Richard Prescott, Officially Dead (Heinemann ELT)

*Set also in 2006. All publishers suggested by Cambridge ESOL.

For details of where to find the 2006 books online, see our previous posting. Now let’s have a look at the newly added books on the list.

Officially Dead

This is a simplified book for upper-intermediate students (2200 headwords). The paperback edition is 120 pages long and brings a CD. This is not available for free. However, the publishers offer downloadable worksheets with answers in Pdf format on their site here:

MacMillan worksheets
http://www.macmillanenglish.com/DEFAULT.aspx?id=552

2001: A Space Odyssey

The Book (266 pages unabridged)

Here you can find the full text, summaries, themes and character analysis:
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/2001/

About the Author, his themes, styles and influences:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_C._Clarke
Read his quotations! To quote but an example:

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from Magic."

More Food for Thought
Arthur C Clarke. Net – Home to all things Clarkean.
http://www.arthurcclarke.net/
This site includes a collection of interviews with Arthur Clarke. I recommend reading this one done back in 1993 at the writer’s home in Sri Lanka for Wired magazine. The author talks about the reality he envisioned and the future he foresees including telecommunications and virtual reality. There are a lot of debatable ideas there.

Teachers –and why not students- might enjoy this one too. Here Clarke discusses the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in education.

And what about the famous Space Odyssey film?
Coming up soon on the FCE Blog. Stay tuned!

FCE December 2006 Session

2006-12-10T14:42:00.000-03:00

Comments, anyone?

So here we are. Some of you have already done parts of the exam, some of you will finish it this week. Good.

I invigilated for FCE yesterday -had a quick look at the papers. Quite warm in Buenos Aires...

What?
No way. I am not supposed to reveal any details about the exam. Same goes for you -have a look at those rules you received from your exam centre. All I can say is I feel my students could pass it with merit (hope so!).

My question:

How did it go?

I do hope to hear from you.
If you are not one from my class, tell us where you are from.

Your turn.

Thank You

2006-11-26T12:48:00.000-03:00

End of 2006 Academic Year

From: Your teacher blogger
To: All fcebloggers and especially to my FCE students
Subject: End of the 2006 FCE course, but not the blog!

.............................................................................................

Dear All,

I would like to thank you very much for all your enthusiasm and support in all these months. We have certainly learnt a lot, although there are challenges ahead too. Finishing this year's course certainly leaves us with a sense of achievement. It is my hope that you have found this online experience fruitful and entertaining.

I am still amazed when I see the map of visitors and think of how far this blog has travelled. We have trespassed the frontiers of our classroom to carry our writings to the homes of other students who also share our learning objective. Our comments have probably helped them. At the same time, we have opened the windows of our classroom to let the world’s community of knowledge come in to aid us!

Vygotsky, a Russian cognitive scientist, taught us early in the XX century that learning happens when we connect with other people. Studying with online support is about expanding the Zone of Proximal Development in which learning can occur. It has been my aim to help you feel a bit of the passion for learning English in our interconnected XXI century world. I like to think that you will go on designing discovery paths for yourselves. True learning is that which never stops.

Wishing you every success in your exams,

Claudia

The FCE Blog Editor
http://fceblog.blogspot.com

Related Post: Our first post, March 2006

Organising your Revison

2006-11-19T17:44:00.000-03:00

Exam Day is Approaching

So you have done your studying. You are at home surrounded by a coursebook, past papers and notes –hopefully legible ones. And the fceblog, of course! It’s time to get organised.

Keep focused

Learning a foreign language is all about making it yours. This is precisely what the oral examiners and corrector are after: how far you have gone in the path of internalising the sounds, the words, the structures and the ways you organise them in English. It is not about showing off how well informed you are, but how naturally you use the language -within FCE level.

Understand what revision is about

Revision is all about helping you to consolidate knowledge as well as managing the exam nerves. We’ve all been through that and, perhaps, the right amount of anxiety makes you sound more interested, write and review more accurately –nothing to complain about. There is a positive side to it.

Plan and stick to it

You may feel there is not that much time left to learn, yet there is no time to lose. Decide what you will do and make your schedule. Remember to allow yourself some free time, particularly the day before the exam. Tired minds do not work well.

Have a look at these Revision Tips from the British Council:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/professionals-exams-tips.htm

This is a Cambridge site with plenty of advice on exam taking techniques. It is not originally meant for FCE students but the content points still apply. You will find a helpful guide to what to do before, during and even after the exam!
http://www.cambridgestudents.org.uk/examtime/revisiontips/

Get organised! Big day is approaching...

Image source: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/300371

DOs and DON'Ts

2006-11-14T16:47:00.000-03:00

Useful Study Tips

Studying is so personal. Perhaps we all study in different ways. Even when we study in groups our minds need to find a way to link the new bits to previous concepts. No two minds share exactly the same information saved in their virtual disks. Mmm all this sounds rather techie, as if our brains functioned like a computer! But learning has a lot of similarities with computers and the Internet. Just think: When we study, we slowly classify information in folders or tag it with a good label. That helps you retrieve it –remember it easily. Not too different from the way search engines work!

Learning goes beyond the tagging and storing metaphor. We need to know what to do in totally new situations. Applied knowledge is about transferring, adapting, and sometimes creating anew! An exam requires these skills. A good exam will not ask you if you just remember something, it will push you a little bit further to know if you can solve the unexpected with some success. No matter how many past papers you’ve done, the next one will be new. An exam is a new problem that will require knowledge and strategy to solve it. The idea is that with what you know you can deal with it.

I imagine what you may be thinking at this point: Easier said than done! I grant you that. Exams are perfect for triggering off anxiety and some nervousness. Don’t ask me why, but I have always felt a bit tense before and after an exam –never during the exam. I probably feel more in control while writing or speaking than waiting for the mark! The thing is you choose to sit for an exam. You try to do your best and then you will enjoy a sense of achievement.

By the time you put yourself to the test, techniques should have been internalised already. I have received some emails asking for help with dos and don’ts. Actually this FCE blog is mainly about useful learning and study tips. As most of my posts deal with specific techniques for each part of the exam, I thought it would be a good idea to have a general picture. So here it goes. Let’s see what other teachers have prepared to help you.

Dos and Don’ts
The Cambridge Teacher’s Resource site offers detailed techniques for every part of the FCE test. A must read I would say...

Reading
Writing
Use of English
Listening
Speaking

Longman outlines different techniques when studying for all parts of the exam. These are more general than the ones in the Cambridge site.
http://www.longman.com/exams/extra/study-tips/study-tips1.html

OneStopEnglish features tips for Speaking and Use of English. Written for teachers, these tips are very detailed with activities and lesson plans.
http://www.onestopenglish.com/Exams/FCE/Tips/index.htm

Teacher Dude is a native teacher of English living in Greece and an active reader of this blog . Find his advice for the FCE oral interview here. The tips are grouped under the different sections of the oral interview and they are a very good summary of what us teachers always correct in our students mock oral interviews.

As I said before, this is the general picture: The complete dos and don’ts grouped together in one post for your convenience. Remember to practise them separately –slowly linking to previous knowledge in your brain CPUs! Start by learning the tips of the parts you find most difficult at first, but it will prove a good exercise to reflect on all of them. They are not capricious; they state abilities that all of us as native speakers of our language naturally possess. It’s just that when we learn a foreign language all those skills demand a little more effort to learn.

To sum up, you should keep a balance with your study priorities and allow time to learn all of these throughout your exam preparation:

Solid knowledge of the Language
Techniques to transfer that knowledge
Exam Timing procedures to ensure success

Hey Everybody!
To all of you struggling towards the exam...Do you have any comments or questions on these techniques? How about those who have already passed the exam... Do you have any advice of your own to share?

Hope to hear from you! Don’t forget to mention your country of origin, there are so many fcebloggers out there...

Photo by Reinhardt Hoft

Related Posts:
Past Papers
Time yourself!

Paper 2 - SHORT STORY

2006-11-03T16:15:00.000-03:00

Writing a Mini Short Story

FCE Task Type Overview
The FCE short story task probably poses two major problems. For some students who believe they lack creativity to invent stories, it is perhaps difficult to decide what to write about. For others, it is difficult to tell a story within the word limit.

To begin with, let’s de-mystify the task. You are not expected to write a story with full development of setting, plot and characters. You should remember that the purpose of the text is to entertain the reader. You may imagine you are taking part in a writing context or that your story will be published in a magazine. An anecdote dealing with just one episode worth telling will do.

Let’s see some guidelines

What is the expected language here?
It is important to have a good handling of tenses for the reader to follow the sequence of events. Try to vary your structures, you can use reported speech or quote some words from the characters to make it more vivid. Sentence length and punctuation require some thought, too.

Possible start & finish lines:
The instructions for this task usually include a start or finishing line for your story. You must not alter it. This line could be in the first or third person. Look at these past paper example:

You have decided to enter a short story competition. The competition rules say that the story must begin with the following words:
I will never forget my first day at...
Write your story for the competition.

Source: Cambridge First Certificate in English 4. Examination Papers from the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate. CUP, 2000 p. 41.

How many words can I write?
Between 120 to 180 words. Let’s say that 201 is too much!

To keep within the range of the word limit, you will probably have to focus on some of the many things involved in writing a story. How much to say about the place, time, characters and action are decisions you make at the planning stage. Choose what is more important to clearly picture the episode you want to narrate.

Here is the task analysis and writing guide from Cambridge ESOL. You will find rubric examples from past examinations together with the questions you need to ask yourself before planning your story. There are also some questions to help you structure your plan. It might be a good idea to print it and keep it at hand until you learn the writing steps.
http://www.cambridgeesol.org/teach/fce/writing/aboutthepaper/
part2/short.htm

In this second link, there are evaluation questions for the revision of your draft. They will help you to make adjustments to your story while keeping language and reader in mind!
http://www.cambridgeesol.org/teach/fce/writing/aboutthepaper/
part2/short_checklist.htm

Remember that you will not be tested on creativity. You should be able to clearly put forward a mini short story that can create interest and entertain. I know, I know, it is not so simple.

A Sample Answer

To end this post here is a sample answer from one of my FCE students. The author tells me this story is fictional and not based on any true happening.

Your language school is running a short story competition. The story must begin or end with the following words:
I had never been so angry in my whole life.
Write your story in 120-180 words.

Source: Haines, S and Stewart, B. First Certificate Masterclass Student’s Book. OUP 2004, p. 84.

Author: Alicia
Note: I am transcribing the task as it was submitted to me without any of the language corrections.

I’d never been so angry in my whole life. 2005’s New Year reminds the worst evening I’ve ever spent.

I was flying to Rio de Janeiro to receive the new millennium and spend my holidays with my dear father, as I usually did since my parents had divorced in 1992. The journey began well. The flight was very quiet, I could enjoy watching a romantic film called ‘Shakespeare in Love’ and before getting anxious the airplane had landed.

My father was there. He seemed to have changed since the last time I had seen him. Although he was in his sixties, he kept on being an attractive man. We were just arriving at home when he gave me a marvellous piece of news. 'I'm engaged with a charming woman and I can't wait you meet her'.

I was still shocked when a very young lady appeared with a big smile to receive us. She was his girlfriend. I couldn’t believe my eyes and I shouted: ‘Is it a joke? She is on her thirties; she can be your daughter?’ You can imagine the dinner.

As the song says: ‘The time goes by...', and fortunately my father recovered his common sense and that love story finished in a few months.

Some comments

Although a bit wordy (209), this is an interesting realisation of the task. It is quite challenging for a student to remember being angry and express it with clear and correct language. There are a few grammar mistakes, which do not interfere with communication at all. The writer has given enough details about the context to understand her own feelings and, at the same time, she has used varied structures and sentence length to keep the reader engaged. Paragraphs are well balanced and the story gets to a smooth ending.

Anyway, love is love, isn’t it? Just a thought.

Disclaimer: The story presented in this posting is property of its author and has been reproduced with permission. Surnames have been avoided for the sake of privacy.

Note: Would you like to read other sample stories by FCE students? Here is a selection of love stories by Italian students.
http://www.britishcouncil.it/students/rome/FCEStories.htm

If you think you have written a story worth publishing, email it to me!

Related Post: English Grammar

Paper 4 - LISTENING

2006-10-20T13:33:00.000-03:00

The FCE Listening Paper: Overview and Online Practice

What is listening comprehension?
Listening skills go beyond understanding the meaning of individual words. At FCE level, you will not be asked to simply prove you can understand what someone says. The test has been built to focus on certain characteristics that are always present when speaking in real life:

Purpose: We always listen for some reason, not just to practice as you may have done as a learning exercise.
Expectations: There is some idea in our mind to anticipate what we will hear. The topic, the purpose, even general knowledge of the world can help you prepare your ears.
General idea or detail: As learners, we would like to understand exactly how things were said. But in every day life, we discriminate whether we need to understand one specific word -a name for instance- or just get the gist of it.

It will help you a great deal if you become aware of what is being tested in every part. It will also soothe your nerves!

Listening Paper Overview

How long does it last?
The test lasts for about 30 minutes. There are five extra minutes of silence at the end of the tape for you to transfer your answers onto the answer sheet.

This Cambridge ESOL link will show you a brief overview of the listening test. Have a look at the duration, number of questions and distribution of tasks.

http://www.cambridgeesol.org/teach/fce/listening/aboutthepaper/overview.htm

What skills are tested?
This is the question to bear in mind.

Read this article by Costas Gabrielatos. You will find a chart with information about each part of the Listening Paper. There are notes on:

Focus: which skills are tested

Format: how skills are tested

Procedure: how to organise your listening and note taking

http://www.gabrielatos.com/FCE-Listening.htm

Practice

How do I practice? What accents are spoken?
You will hear a variety of British accents. It is advisable to try to listen to BBC radio or other British sources frequently. That will make you feel more confident about your listening.

I believe that if most students listened to a paper without knowing the FCE tasks they are supposed to do, the overall impression would be that they understand native speakers much more. You could definitely have a successful conversation with them!

However, the listening paper will not test how many words you know or understand. Actually, you should expect some unknown words -or chunks- and still manage to perform the task. For example, if you are asked to infer how the speakers feel about an issue, intonation may be more important than the actual words used.

.............................................

Now that you know the rules of the game, you are ready for some practice.

FCE Listening Online
Except for the FCE Handbook from the Cambridge site, it is hard to find real FCE listening practice online. Here is a selection of sample listening papers:

The British Council site Learn English Professionals has a full listening test online.

http://www.britishcouncil.org/professionals-exams-fce-listening-1.htm

More practice to be found here:
http://www.examenglish.com/FCE/fcelistening.htm

The site instructions are in Czech not in English, but it is easy to follow:
http://www.helpforenglish.cz/Certifikaty/FCE/c2006081604--
E-FCE--Listening--part-1.html

http://www.helpforenglish.cz/Certifikaty/FCE/c2006103001--
E-FCE--Listening--part-2.html

http://www.helpforenglish.cz/Certifikaty/FCE/c2006110101--
E-FCE--Listening--part-3.html

Related Post: Past Papers -FCE Handbook with mp3 listening

Earphone image source: http://www.kk.org/

Sounds and Spelling

2006-10-09T12:44:00.000-03:00

Under the SPELL of English

‘Dearest creature in Creation,
Studying English pronunciation,
I will teach you in my verse
Sounds like corpse, corps, horse and worse.
It will keep you, Susy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy;
Tear in eye your dress you'll tear,
So shall I! Oh, hear my prayer,...’

Sounds of English revisited
On a previous posting we discussed how to study the sounds of English and minimal pairs. At this learning stage, you probably find that some sounds are not so easy to produce just by hearing and imitating. It takes a bit of an extra effort to learn them -particularly those sounds that do not exist in our mother tongue. We need to analyse in more detail what is necessary to sound better and get rid of a strong foreign accent. Do not blame it on your vocal cords or lack of a musical ear: Point and manner of articulation have to be adjusted. It is amazing how different you can sound when you know a few tricks!

Here is a site from the University of Iowa that will clarify the mysteries of the production of English sounds. You will find audio, video and graphics with step-by-step description to guide you.
http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/english/frameset.html
(You need Flash 7 or higher- Download here )

Pronunciation and spelling

Have you ever wondered how do native speakers learn to master English spelling at school? One of the methods is called Synthetic Phonics. Want to try learning like a child? Go ahead and give it a try!
http://www.fonetiks.org/foniks/
You will see a chart with 10 practice steps of increasing difficulty. Click on a box, then, hover your mouse on the words to listen. These exercises will help you find regularities between spelling and sound. English spelling is not that unpredictable after all.

A bit of extra practice
This is just one page which organises contrastive sound practice with varied techniques. You needn’t go in order; you can create your learning route.
http://international.ouc.bc.ca/pronunciation/
Includes 13 sound groups, practice with mp3 files. There are sentence dictations to do online and tongue twisters.

Just for fun...
Here are a couple of sites which collect poems on the craziness of English spelling.

Why do we need to focus on spelling when spell checkers can do it for you?
Just in case you think word processors can polish up your writing and you needn’t study spelling so much, have a look at these lines:

‘I have a spelling checker,
It came with my PC.
It plane lee marks four my revue
Miss steaks aye can knot sea.’

Read the rest here:
http://www.spellingsociety.org/news/media/poems.php
(The title of this posting comes from one the poems here too)

Some stats
Did you know that the combination ough can be pronounced in 14 different ways?!

Check that here:
http://home.planet.nl/~blade068/languagefun/pronunciation.htm

We have often felt puzzled with some listening exercise when we do not have a clue of what the speakers are saying. Then, we desperately go to the listening transcript only to find the difficult chunk was made up of very simple words. Why couldn't we understand something so easy! What do you think you need to improve? More listening practice? Perhaps.

Have you ever thought it can be as difficult the other way about? I mean, to understand the pronunciation and meaning reading the transcript first? Scroll down that same site above to find "Ladle Rat Rotten Hat". This is a classic, worldwide known story you will have to read aloud to understand (there is a translation if you give up). The key to making sense out of it is to think of the intonation, not the spelling. It's fun. Try reading the beginning:

Wants pawn term, dare worsed ladle gull hoe lift wetter murder inner ladle cordage, honor itch offer lodge, dock, florist.' Disk ladle orphan worry putty ladle rat cluck wetter ladle rat hut, an fur disk raisin pimple colder Ladle Rat Rotten Hut. Wan moaning, Ladle Rat Rotten Hut's murder colder inset."Ladle Rat Rotten Hut, heresy ladle basking winsome burden barter an shirker cockles. Tick disk ladle basking tutor cordage offer groin-murder how lifts honor udder site offer florist. [...]

(Hint: Once upon a time, there was a little girl...)

Have you guessed the title of the story? Can you get the meaning from the sounds or are you still under the spell of English spelling?

Related posting: Pronunciation Starter Pack

Paper 2 - SET BOOK

2006-10-02T11:44:00.000-03:00

Preparing for the Set Book Option

Choosing your book
When we think of extensive reading we mean reading for pleasure. Of course it is not pleasurable to stop your reading to look up 20 new words in the dictionary per page! Take into account your level of English when choosing the books from the ESOL set texts –graded or full versions. Ideally you should be able to get a good hint at the meaning of the words from context and use the dictionary only for those unknown words which are a key to understanding the story. Predicting, guessing and carefully selecting words to further investigate are part of the skills you learn when reading longer texts.

Purpose of reading the set book: reading extensively
Cambridge list of set texts usually includes a number of classics. Students sometimes complain that those stories are set in a distant past, with past problems and 'old fashioned' vocabulary. Indeed if you want to learn how people speak today, there are other sources to go to –we discussed some options in a previous posting. Yet, there are countless advantages for language learners who acquire the habit of extensive reading. To mention but a few:

you can learn collocations

you can improve reading comprehension

you get lots of cultural information

Remember that good writers have always been great readers! Speaking of writing...

Let’s talk about the writing task

Is this one of the easiest or more difficult options in the writing paper?

If you choose it in the hope of finding an easy task, it is probably not one of the easiest options. It is true that you can think about what to say about the book beforehand. You will not have to think of something completely new to write about.

Do I have to remember the entire book?

Yes, you do. But remember the task is not about retelling. You will show evidence of your reading by briefly referring to relevant moments of the story- that is all.

Will there be any questions about the set book in the oral exam?

Nope.

(For a complete oral exam sample go here).

Can I see the film instead of reading the book?

Films can be of help; however, they do not replace reading a book. Through a film, you access to someone else's reaction to the book. You will need to have your own opinions about the text to write your criticism.

How to read the book preparing for the set book option

Do your note taking while reading the book. Classify your notes with headings such as vocabulary to talk about the plot, setting or main characters.

Part 2 – Question 5: Analysing your options

Type of writing tasks

Sample Questions

You will have to produce an original piece, so it is not possible to have a ready made composition. But you can certainly have decided on a number of ideas about the story and characters. Your writing is a personal and critical view of the book. Your own reaction and evaluation of it is expected.

Where to find examples and sample answers

The Penguin Readers Teacher’s Guide to Preparing for FCE by Carolyn Walker (Pearson 1999) is a booklet written for teachers; however, students preparing the exam on their own can find it helpful.

You can download it here.

Pdf- 17 pages and 14 worksheets

This is a possible reading path:

Useful pages for students
Pages 6, 7 and 8 include brief descriptions of the type of text you will produce, style, target reader, organisation and content. A detailed analysis of your response to the book as well as exam tips.

Useful worksheets for students
2- FCE question types. The 10 examples given are taken from UCLES 1997- 1998 sessions.

3- A sample essay. Based on Wuthering Heights, it includes questions to analyse how the task was achieved.

5- Analysis of the plot. A chart to take your notes while reading.

10- Personality chart. There is a collection of adjectives to help you describe main characters.

14- Evaluating the book. Set of model sentences to include your opinion of the book.

All the examples and explanations in the Penguin Guide are based on the novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. Definitely one of my favourite novels. You can find the book and study notes here (Pdf available on the site).

Phillips, Brian and Bourneuf, Annie. SparkNote on Wuthering Heights. 1 Oct. 2006 .

Related post: Background Reading Texts. Where to find the set texts online.

701 Reasons to Study a Foreign Language

2006-09-26T21:19:00.000-03:00

European Day of Languages

The European Day of Languages (EDL) is celebrated every year on the 26 September. It is a Council of Europe initiative that was first celebrated in 2001, the European Year of Languages.

This post is our way of joining this celebration. Why join? Because the aims of the EDL are part of the spirit of this blog. They are also at the heart of my writing mission here.

The general objectives of the European Day of Languages are to:

alert the public to the importance of language learning and diversify the range of languages learned in order to increase plurilingualism and intercultural understanding;
promote the rich linguistic and cultural diversity of Europe;
encourage lifelong language learning in and out of school.

European or not, aren’t all of us -language learners- part of this?

Why learn languages

With so much preparation for the FCE exam we tend to forget other reasons to study languages. Language is part of our identity, our own peculiar way of seizing the world around us and making sense out of it. No matter how many words and structures you have mastered –or how many certificates you have collected- communication will always be closely linked to the degree of intercultural competence you have.

So language learning becomes learning to think and feel again. Expand yourself. This is definitely my own reason for learning other languages. What are your reasons?

Here is an inspiring site with a search engine full of reasons:
http://www.llas.ac.uk/700reasons/700reasons.aspx
Notice that exam preparation is not included on the list. So FCE would be number 701!

How you can learn languages

A bit of reflection on this point is a must for any good language learner. Here is a guide written by the Council of Europe on how you can learn languages. It includes short notes on how to plan your studies, how to choose a school or method as well as practical tips to practice writing, reading, listening and speaking. It also deals with a few myths about learning such as ‘Am I too old for succeeding?’

You can download the Pdf here (6 pages, very fast read).

Or from the EDL official site here
http://www.ecml.at/edl/NewsDetails.asp?n=230

Let’s celebrate!

Online learning, lifelong language learning...

This is my favourite quote from the guide:

...learning a new language also means learning to understand other ways of thinking and doing things.

I don’t know you, but I feel like tasting a new language today. Mmm.... I’ll choose one here:
BBC Languages
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/

Till next post!

Phrasal Verbs

2006-09-24T21:18:00.000-03:00

Multi-word Verbs

If I had to say what the single most asked question by my students is, I believe that would be:
How can I learn phrasal verbs?
I can almost see you nod here.

Why are they a problem? Let’s see...

Meaning is not always transparent or easily predictable from the words. In fact, they tend to have different meanings. They can also vary according to dialect. We cannot play around much with them, the minute we get creative and change the particle we have said something else!

It is always advisable to have a good dictionary around.

In the Cambridge International Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs there are over 5,000 but you probably need much less to sound natural.

The point is not to know all of them, but to accurately figure them out.

How should I study phrasal verbs?
The answer is there is no best method, but fortunately there are techniques, books and websites! Let’s take a web tour.

Here is a good place to start:

A Comprehensive Treatment
http://www.phrasalverbdemon.com/
In this website you can find the most frequent verbs in context -their meanings and their particle meanings. Lots of collocations, some games and a small glossary: http://www.phrasalverbdemon.com/dictionarya.htm.

I believe the author (a teacher of course) has done a great job in balancing grammar, meaning and context. Two thumbs up!

A Traditional Approach
Varying the method of study can help you focus on the different aspects that make a phrasal a complex little thing. Sometimes a traditional grammar list can be useful.
Here is a good one:
http://www.wordpower.ws/grammar/gramch27.html
Includes: Grammar Explanations, lists with definitions and examples, some exercises.

The Structure of a Phrasal Verb
Now you discover phrasal verbs are actually multi-word verbs which can be transitive or intransitive, separable or inseparable. It is important to know the structure and usage of the verb you want to learn. We need a lot of examples!
Here is a searchable list with one sentence examples of all types of phrasal verbs.
http://www.ccas.ru/olenev/english/phverbs.html
Includes: A list with formal English definitions and an example. Simple and concise.

A Topic-based Approach
Perhaps you haven’t solved all your grammar doubts about phrasal verbs reading all of the above. Anyway, you need to see them and hear them in context. Grouping vocabulary according to topic will certainly help you to remember them.
Here is the BBC Funky Phrasals with mini dialogues about health, childhood, career, and holidays. You just can’t miss it!
BBC Learning English
Includes: Scrip and audio.

What do I need to learn? I mean, for the FCE exam...

Are Phrasals Formal or Informal?
After reviewing context, structure and topics we still have to review the question of register. This is paramount for using phrasals in your FCE writing paper. This website will help you learn formal equivalents of some phrasal verbs:
http://www.btinternet.com/~ted.power/phrasal.html
Includes: 14 practice texts with latinate verbs compared to phrasal verbs.

Remember: The meaning of a phrasal does not always apply on a one to one correspondence to the meanings of its formal equivalent. Then, context is vital if not everything here.

How about some extra exercises?
What? You still want more practice?
All right. Here it goes:
http://www.eflnet.com/pverbs/index.php
Includes: Quizzes and lots of links to exercises.

Conclusions
Regardless your learning style, I would advise you to try all of them. Or at least do not fall in love with only one type of exercise. The mind gets bored and that is precisely the instant in which learning stops.
So take it easy, when you are tired, give yourself a break and come back to this post some other time, try one more exercise or two.

In a nutshell, when learning phrasal verbs, don’t give up, keep it up!

Are you a Teacher?

2006-09-14T22:51:00.000-03:00

To blog or not to blog... that is the question!

Dear Students and Teachers,

As promised, I am including a link to the presentation I will show to AACI teachers at the British Arts Centre (BAC) about this FCE Blog.

I am happy to share this with my colleagues and I sincerely hope they can invite their FCE students to join this online community. I believe that networking with them can only make our experience of this blog much more enjoyable.

You can see the presentation slides here:
http://claudia-ceraso.carbonmade.com/projects/20487
(Just click on them to get the slide show!)

If you are a teacher, perhaps you’d like to browse ElT Notes –a sister project- with myriads of links to help you in your teaching practice.

The FCE Blog is a student’s site, but let me invite all teachers to drop their comments on the presentation here.

Stay tuned!

Claudia Ceraso
FCE Blog Editor
http://fceblog.blogspot.com
fceblog@gmail.com

Related links:
Site Map (a good place to start if you are a first-timer in this blog)
Site Guest Book

Blogging for Teachers

Common Errors and Confusing Words

2006-09-08T11:35:00.000-03:00

Learning from our mistakes

Learning a language requires a good deal of learning to learn. I believe that is clearly the case when dealing with common errors and confusing words. There are common mistakes to be expected at FCE level but your specific needs seldom fall into ready made categories. Practising with past papers will only help you if you can reflect a bit on the results and accurately identify your problem areas.

Every student has a linguistic profile. We tend to choose certain words or structures we a comfortable with and we also tend to make certain types of mistakes. It is a good idea to spend some of your study time learning about your mistakes.

How to go about it? Apart from your past papers practice, there are different routes to become aware of weak areas you need to work on. You learn a language using it, sharing with other learners in class and eventually travelling. I'll divide this entry into three analogous steps.

My mistakes: how I use the language
First of all, keep the written assignments you have done together in a folder. Have a look at your teacher's corrections: Are there repeated mistakes? Do those mistakes belong to a specific category such as spelling, grammar or punctuation?
Of course those are just the mistakes in structures and vocabulary you tend to choose. You need to discover more.
http://vlc.polyu.edu.hk/common/
This site is written for students (originally for Hong Kong students of English). It is a booklet organised in the same way as a physical workout class – warm up, exercise, and cool down. It will help you identify and correct mistakes online.

Your mistakes: how other learners use the language
We all learn from our classmates questions and doubts. That’s one of the advantages of studying in groups.
Have a look at the BBC learning English site here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/index.shtml#a
You’ll find an interactive guide to the most frequent grammar questions from students all answered and cleared out by experts. It's very much like listening to your companions’ questions in class. Only this is a worldwide class!

Their mistakes: how native speakers use the language
What about native speakers, don’t they make mistakes too? Of course they do! Here is a site listing a myriad of confusable words. Explanations are rather short; remember they were not written for a student.
http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html
Common Errors in English by Paul Brians is quite advanced. You may want to come back to this for CAE or CPE. You should know what to expect from the site. Confusable words include pairs such as: beside/besides; actual/actually; assure/ensure/insure; compare to/compare with;
It is also interesting how the site homepage explains what an error in English is.
http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/index.html

All three routes above will help you start your own error analysis. These are steps to repeat frequently in your learning path. Learning to learn involves taking small, personalised, autonomous steps. Let’s avoid the common error of expecting everything from a teacher, a book or a collection of past papers.

Related Posts: English Grammar

Reading Interviews and Online Magazines

2006-08-25T18:37:00.000-03:00

FCE Vocabulary: Natural English or Dictionary English?

After doing a few Use of English past paper tests, you probably wonder how much vocabulary you need to know to pass the FCE –with merit of course!

Let’s consult the FCE Handbook to clarify this point a little. The descriptor of the band 5 (maximum mark) of the FCE written assessment reads:

“Wide range of structure and vocabulary within the task set.”

What does this mean?

It is quality knowledge not quantity of words you should be after. That’s what it means.

Apart from knowing the structure of words; for example, what preposition follows certain verbs or adjectives, Paper 3 Use of English aims at testing set phrases and collocations rather than the meaning of individual words. You need to grasp the whole meaning of the phrase. To gain that knowledge it is important to come across words in context and then consult their dictionary meaning to check structural aspects.

Speak Up Magazine
http://www.speakuponline.it/
This is a magazine I have read and enjoyed a lot while studying English. I still keep my collection of tapes from it. Luckily there is an online version from this Italian site:
http://www.speakuponline.it/archivio.asp
It is probable the best starting point you can find to help you deal with different varieties of English in a number of contexts. Each recorded interview includes information about the nationality and accent of the speakers, which is essential to help you gain that spontaneous knowledge of the language when you haven't travelled much to English speaking countries.

Larry King Live
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/lkl.html
This site lists interviews shown since 2000. Finding out a bit about the interviewee will give you a clue as to their accent. If you are interested in other interviews from CNN go to: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/

The Guardian
http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/
This section of the Guardian newspaper includes talks with celebs and film directors.

Inside the Actors Studio
Pity the official site does not include transcrips! Here is a transcript from Anthony Hopkins interview:
http://www.planethopkins.co.uk/pages/interviews.html.

If you would like to read interviews with your favourite actors, you are most likely to find them at:
BBC film interiews A-Z
http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/archive.shtml?interviews
Find an actor on the alphabetical list.

Last but not least....
Remember the purpose of your reading: you aim at collecting different contexts for words you probably know already.

Enjoy your reading!

FCE Guest Map

2006-08-14T14:27:00.000-03:00

Sign the Guest Book or Pin the Guest Map!

To: Cambridge First Certificate in English Students, Teachers and Fcebloggers community.

Subject: Where are we?

Attachment: See the GUEST MAP at the end of the letter... unless the page is still loading.
...............................................................

Dear All,

The Cambridge First Certificate in English preparation involves getting to know the pieces of the puzzle in detail (i.e. the papers and their parts, dos and dont's). As most of you know, getting ready for the exam takes a considerable amount of time and effort.

Writing this blog is a learning experience for me. My aim is to help you in assembling the pieces of the puzzle: discuss all those aspects of the exam that can help you pass with merit and link you to the work other great teachers are doing in cyberspace. As you see, it cannot be done in the short term. I am planning to blog for a while.

This site is meant to be an online guide and companion for all FCE students. Pass the exam, drop a comment, pin your mark! I think it can be encouraging for those reading this blog in future. You’ll probably come back for language reference since many of the pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar links can help you in your CAE and CPE courses.

So, your FCE studies will one day come to an end. In the meantime, however, I do hope that you can acquire some independent studying skills to make your learning a lifelong journey. As for your comments, feedback and sample answers, they will remain in this blog to guide future FCE Students wherever they are.

I look forward to seeing your signatures.

All best,

Claudia
fceblog Editor
..........................................

So here is our new gadget. Actually, in web slang it is called a widget -I recently learned.

Try it out

Hover your mouse over the pin. Click and hold the mouse anywhere on the map, then drag it to see other countries.

Tip: Click on the map URL http://www.frappr.com/fceblog for a full screen view and then click on my pin to read the complete content of a bubble.

What is this all about?

Basically, this is a visual guest book.

What for?

For the fun of it!

Who should be added?

Anyone who has viewed and found this site interesting may sign, I mean, pin. You could be a regular user or a teacher who suggested this site to your students.

How does it work?

Click on “add”. A self-explanatory menu will appear. Your e-mail is required but not disclosed. An email icon will be shown in your bubble.

What shall I write in the Shoutout message?

The Shoutout is the bubble associated to your pin in the map: your name will be there by default. You can add your occupation, when you started studying FCE for example –you may even upload your picture. Once you have passed the exam, share your grade!

What about the Map Chat...?

I do not recommend this at all. This is a plus feature I was not looking for -I simply wanted you to have a map of visitors. It is built-in and I cannot take it out. Our site has a chat widget already with rules to use it In this map chat, any "guest user" who has left a pin on any map on any other site in any remote part of the world can be found chatting there. I do not know what you think: I am not interested. Take this as a disclaimer.

Now...

For those who find that all of the above mentioned is far too techie and would rather sign an ordinary guest book, please feel free to post a comment below.